Return of the Doppelganger
by warelander
Summary: Your friend or to be more precise one half of your friend, who's life has taken a very different direction from what you know, has come back to take the place she deems to be her rightful one. Sig now finds himself in that kind of situation, discovering a half of Arle that he never knew existed.
1. Prologue

**This will be my first bigger fic, now that we know Doppel's real background I really wanted to do a new take on a Sig/Doppel story. Note that it follows up on ''First Day in Primp'', but besides Rafisol's friendship with Sig, the two stories are unrelated.**

 **Prologue: The Arrival**

The morning sun shone brightly over the town of Grimp and it's nearby forest, coloring the entire area in a warm, if still rather sleepy atmosphere. Within' the forest, but not too far from town was a house, inhabited by none other then lovaholic Ally and her ''sister'' Rafisol, the latter of which only now awakening from her comfortable slumber.

Stretching and lightly groaning the girl lazily rubbed the last bits of sleep from her eyes, while she still had much to learn about both the world and herself, having only been born from Ally's pendant a couple of months ago, she already knew for herself that getting up in the morning was not one of her favorite parts of the day.

Still though, she had good reason to get herself ready for the day as soon as possible, instead of trying to snooze off, after all this was going to be one of those days where Sig would come to visit. It had been about two months since they had become friends on that faithful visit to Primp and since then they had seen each other quite regularly. Usually Ally was with them as well and the three of them would do whatever came to their minds, sometimes they would just wander or sit somewhere relaxing and other times Sig would convince them to do some bug catching with him. Ally was always quick to go along with it, proving herself to be very enamored with the boy's love for the little insects, while Rafisol simply enjoyed to be in the middle of this trio of friends,

Indeed, since she managed to make a friend besides Ally, Rafisol had begun to lighten up a fair bit, something that her sister in spirit took note of and while it probably still take some time until Raf would feel comfortable to acquaint herself with others more often, she at least now had one more person to open up to and show her that she was indeed worth loving.

Either way, the cheerful girl's splitting image made her way into the livingroom of their home, to see that Ally was nowhere to be found, instead all she could spot was a piece of paper on the table in the middle of the room.

 _''Hey Raffy! If you are reading this then I'm still out grocery shopping. Sig came earlier and now he's with me too, but we will be back soon, we can have breakfast and then get intimate together as usual! Love, Ally ''_

Was what the note said. So she missed them, a bit of a bummer, but not a big deal, they'd be back soon enough, until then she would do well to at least check the mail. Soon she was struck by the warmth of the sun as she exited the house, though at least she could enjoy the breeze of the wind a bit better, since she didn't bother to change out of her pajamas yet.

She made her way to the mailbox, still somewhat groggily all the the while and opened it up, only to discover nothing. Shrugging and not really wasting another thought on it, Rafisol was about to go back to her house, when all of the sudden, it seemed like she could hear something land on the grass nearby, only to collapse right afterwards.

Turning around Rafisol quickly discovered to her shock, that there was indeed the body of a person lying nearby, despite there having been no sight of one just a moment before. Still, she couldn't dwell on that for too long, quickly making her way to the body, kneeling down and cradling the person in her arms, to get a better look at their face.

The face of the person in question would proof to be another shock for Rafisol, the person looked remarkably like Arle, only with a darker hair color and red cloths, where Arle's wardrobe would be blue. Her condition didn't do much to help, her unkempt hair or the tired and pained, not to mention barely focused or even conscious look in her eyes would have already been indication enough that this girl had been through rough times, but what was even more haunting was how torn her cloths were. The side of her shirt even revealed a wound, that stained chunks of her shirt in dry looking blood.

A very uncomfortable sight indeed, one that was made even worse by the resemblance to someone that she knew. As much as the horror of the sight made her struggle to form any kind of sentence, Rafisol knew she had to say something, this was not something she had to experience before and truthfully she would have rather had it stay that way.

''H-Hey...you alright? What happened to you?'' The girl did not give a response, in fact it seemed like she could barely even muster up the strength to look Rafisol in the eyes, only expressing herself in quiet breaths, that at least indicated that she was still alive. Sighing and unsure what to really do, Raf swung one of the girl's arms around her neck and decided to carry her to bed. She had no medical experience and did not posses any healing spells, so for now all that Rafisol could do was to take her into the house and wait for Ally and Sig to come back. Hopefully one of them would know what to do...

* * *

 **(Doppel' POV)**

Darkness.

Seemingly endless darkness.

And loneliness.

Her mind was clouded with them. It's all she had known for a majority of her life. Ever since she had managed to defeat the Creator at last.

At the cost of getting her old life ripped away from her.

Still though, she remembered the day she had finally been able to set foot back home again. The hurt, at being labeled a doppelganger and having to discover that another Arle had taken her place. She had tried to regain her rightful place by getting back Carbuncle and taking control of Satan, to challenge this fraud and set things straight.

Sadly things did not go as expected, everyone in her world had begun to play this ''Puyo Puyo'' game to fight their battles in her absence and as it seems the blue Arle seemed to be particularly skilled in that regard. ''Doppelganger'' Arle did not have the luxury to to have hundreds of matches of experience under her belt, she did try to compensate by using her most powerful shield spell to get herself an advantage, but it was to no avail. Soon she was beaten and ejected from her homeworld, back to wander the empty gap between worlds yet again.

Still she wasn't one to give up, to just kneel down and cry. She had been through too much to let herself get defeated like this. Ignoring the pain from the wounds she had received during the battle ''Doppel'' marched onwards, not even sure where to go or if she even made any real progress, all she knew was that somewhere there must have been an exit to this void, after all she had managed to find one before.

And so the months passed by, with ''Doppel'' continuing her quest to escape this dark emptiness, never stopping, barely even losing a thought on how long she had been doing this, all she could think of was to keep going. At last it seemed like she finally found something, a ray of light that upon stepping into it, spat her out face first into a pile of grass.

It was only then that she realized for herself that she had done it, no longer trapped in the void she could finally see something other then pitch black in front of her again. In her relief ''Doppel'' allowed for the exhaustion to finally take her in, only now registering how much she had strained herself, in her blind, but determined quest.

This would become even more noticeable when she suddenly felt herself being held by someone, a girl she didn't recognize, then again, her vision being rather blurry and unused to seeing something again after such a long stay in pure darkness might have had something to do with it as well. She was able to vaguely hear the girl calling out to her, but could not find the strength to speak up or even keep her vision focused.

It all was a blur really, she did eventually realize that she was being carried into a bed, but ''Doppel'' did not have it in her to savor the comforting feeling of the soft mattress or the cool breeze that came from the window.

All her mind could fully concentrate on was that she escaped and the memories of the other Arle, those things were occupying her mind, but after such a long time of wandering non-stop, she could finally get some rest, at least for a while. That's what she thought to herself as her eyes became increasingly heavier. The last thing she noticed were another girl and a boy, both of which she did not recognize either, both coming into the room, until she finally lost consciousness for good.

 **To be continued...**


	2. Chapter 1: The Awakening

**Chapter 1: The Awakening**

Rafisol wasn't sure what kind of reactions to expect, not that there was any chance of either of her friends being happy to see such a beat-up girl, but this was the first time she had to deal with something like this and it wasn't a experience that she would miss, when all was set and done.

Ally, as one would expect was heartbroken at the sight, stammering a bit to herself, before snapping out and quickly rushing out of the room to get her medical kit, to nurse the mysterious girl back to help.

Sig on his end had barely moved an inch from when he first spotted her, seemingly frozen in place and not even daring to approach the bed or even speak up beyond a confused and horrified whisper of Arle's name. Rafisol quietly made her way next to him, studying his body language every step of the way.

He was as stiff as a board, his face pale, as if he just stepped out of a haunted mansion and his eyes vacant and somehow both focused and completely absent looking at the same time. The mere sight made Rafisol cringe, Sig looked like he didn't even know how to process a shock of this magnitude, not that she could blame him, it's not like she knew what to do herself.

Before she even had a chance to try and snap Sig out of his trance Ally returned to the room, with her medical kit in hand, noticing the bug lover's outright frozen stance. Trying to get his attention the girl moved between him and Rafisol, sympathetically putting a hand on one of his shoulders, which succeeded in at least making him face her. ''Hey, I know you want to be here for her, but I think she would like some privacy while I tend to her wounds...in Case she wakes up yah know?''

It took a while for Sig to respond, shifting his gaze to the wounded girl and then back to Ally, quietly nodding in understanding, before shuffling himself slowly out of the room. Rafisol decided to follow him, not feeling comfortable to leave him alone in such a state. She soon spotted him sitting on the livingroom couch. if nothing else he didn't look like something sucked the life out of him anymore, but to see him so helpless and distraught was still painful.

At a loss of what to even do Rafisol took a seat right next to her friend, stuck in a inner conflict between hugging him or giving him the space he might need she ended up not doing much of anything at all.

Neither of the two did.

All they could do was to wait for Ally to join them, so they could discuss how to further handle this whole situation.

Needless to say this was easier said then done, as if to play a cruel joke anxiousness had it's always reliable ways to make mere minutes feel like hours, leaving the two teens to uncomfortably shuffle their feet around and stare at disbelief over how slow time seemed to be moving.

After 20 minutes their prayers were heard, when they saw Ally entering the room, looking a little better herself, which was encouraging right off the bat. ''She's in the green!'' Ally gladly proclaimed, finally forming a small smile again, which was furthered by the sight of her friends visibly relaxing by a fair bit.

''She is pretty beaten up, though...I can't imagine what kind of battle she must have gotten herself into...'' ''...Sig. When was the last time you saw Arle?'' Rafisol inquired, dying to get some clues at last. ''Only a few days ago...she wanted to go back to her own world for a bit...'' He answered, finally fully back in the realm of reality.

''...Do you think something happened there...to leave her in such a state?''

Speculating like this may have been a bit of a risky move, since none of them could say for sure, but it wasn't as if Sig and Ally didn't already think of a similar thing. Being such a energetic adventurer it was anything but rare for Arle to get herself in a fair share of trouble as well, though she usually came out of it again just fine, which begged the question of just what made this particular incident so different.

''Well...whatever it is, I'm sure Arle is going to tell us once she wakes up.'' Ally was met with agreeing nods, spitballing ideas wasn't going to get them anywhere and for now all she wanted to do was to infuse a sense of optimism back into the house.

Indeed, for the next couple of hours all the trio could do was to kill the time. Eating breakfast, playing cards or attending to the small garden outside of the house, all while regularly checking the guest room to see if their patient had finally awoken. All of them remained fairly quiet and in thought, but at least the gloomy atmosphere began to gradually recede.

It wasn't as if they could do much else, might as well make the best of their time together, so they could give Arle a warm welcome back later...

When you wander across worlds for a long time, even some very basic things can become foreign after a while. Among those things was the feeling of warmth, as unbelievable as that might sound, to the point where a normal bright noon could feel like Satan has enlarged the sun again.

Indeed, it was the heat clashing against her face that slowly worked it's way to bring ''Doppel'' back into a state of consciousness. At first it was incredibly blurry, the only things that she could really focus on were her still aching bones and the newfound feeling of comfort from lying in a bed for the first time in months.

Relishing in the feeling her feet getting some rest at last ''Doppel'' recalled the girl that brought her in and the other two people she saw, before everything went black. Her vision was blurry and unfocused, but none of them seemed familiar at all. Surely there were some things she needed to investigate on, it's not like she even knew where she had landed, but for now it was likely the smarter decision to take it easy and regain some much needed strength.

About half an hour passed, when the guest room door slowly opened. Thankfully ''Doppel's'' vision had recovered enough by now to get a good look at the girl who was cautiously entering the room. Upon seeing that she had finally woken up Ally's eyes face brightened up considerably and ''Doppel'' could swear that there were small hearts forming in her eyes.

''You woke up! Thank goodness!'' The girl squeaked out in relief, barely able to keep herself from hugging the unwilling world wanderer, but she knew better, after all she had bandaged and plastered her wounds.

''I...You..Wher...'' Any attempt to form an actual sentence was futile, ''Doppel'' quickly realized that her voice had gone weak and raspy, after prolonged thirst and disuse. It's not like she had anyone to talk to in the void, at most she could have tried to talk to herself, though that would have likely cost her a part of her sanity that she would never willingly let break, after all, she had an old life to regain.

Still though, she had powered through so much that she didn't want to stop trying, but she could barely even get a full word out, with the aching feeling in her throat only getting stronger, until Ally finally gestured her to stop, her facial expression both understanding, but also insistent on her taking it easy.

''Doppel'' could not recall the last time anyone had given her that kind of look, one that said 'I care about you' without having to spell it out, expressed in nothing but compassion and love. In fact she barely even knew how to react to it, but she did not have much time to think about it either way, since the other two people who she vaguely recognized from before, came into the room.

The boy in particular was quick to catch her attention, for his red arm and heterochromia, far from the oddest thing she had ever seen though. In fact, what surprised her more was that he seemed eager to get to her side, allowing their eyes to meet and lock themselves into a concentrated gaze at the other.

''...Arle...what happened to you?'' A surprised gasp escaped from ''Doppel's'' lips, he had called her Arle, even though she could not recall to have ever met him before, unless...

''That blue imposter! She must be the Arle he is thinking of!'' She thought to herself, it couldn't be any other way and with that realization all of her resentment for the one who took her place began to flare up again, those new friendships she seemed to have made should be hers, after all **she** was the real Arle and this was supposed to be **her** life.

''Arle...you okay?'' Sig could only watch as the girl just stared at him, seemingly wrapped up in thoughts, which Ally took quick note of as well. ''We should let her recover a bit, she is likely a bit out of it right now Sig.'' He couldn't argue that she had point, nodding in slight guilt, he wasn't usually this hasty, but just couldn't help himself this time around.

Thankfully Ally was quick to defuse the situation, putting herself between Sig and Rafisol, while link a arm with each of them. ''I know something that's gonna pep her up, so let's go!'' Without another word the two followed her out, leaving ''Doppel'' alone in the room.

Not that she minded, since it gave her the opportunity to secretly apply a healing spell on herself, it wasn't much, since her power still needed to recover, but it would be enough to make a run for it once everyone was asleep. There really was no other option, chances of any of these three believing her story were likely not terribly high and there was always the risk of the blue charlatan coming along, which would be deadly in her current condition.

So yes, she needed to go into hiding, as nice as it was to have someone care about her again, there were too many things that could go wrong and besides, she'd have plenty time for them once she regained her rightful position as the one and only Arle around.

It was just then that Sig returned into the room with a bed table in hand,placing it in front of her, keeping one hand on it, while locking eyes with ''Doppel's'' once more. ''Sorry about before...I was worried and didn't think...'' It was pretty easy for ''Doppel''' to pity the boy, he seemed like a nice, if a little odd guy and it wasn't as if it was his fault that the blue faker made him think that she was Arle Nadja.

Slowly she moved her own hand to the one that Sig still left on the table, gently placing it over his hand and shooting him the warmest smile that she could muster at the moment, visibly surprising the boy, though he gladly returned the gesture. This was the first she had really seen his face move from it's previously blank expression and while ''Doppel'' wasn't sure whether or not it was the painful loneliness from the void speaking, she had to admit that he had a very nice smile. Maybe it was just the fact that it had been so long since she had gotten to share such friendly acts, that made her feel so warm and comfortable at that very moment, but all she knew was that she enjoyed it.

The so-called doppelgänger could have stood to remain like this for a while, but then her eyes quickly shot up at a very familiar smell that was coming from outside the room and indeed she soon saw Ally and Rafisol come into the room, with a plate of her favorite spicy dish in hand. ''Surprise! I stocked up on the ingredients for Curry last time I was in Primp!'' She didn't quite understand the context, but it didn't really matter right now, as she wasted little time to dig in. For as much of a toll the prolonged stays between worlds have put on ''Doppel'' some things were bound to never change and her almost childlike glee at the sight of Curry was one of them. The trio of friends could only grin at the sight, it was good to see her in good enough condition to relish in as small a gesture as this, at least is showed signs that she was on the road to recovery.

The rest of the day was rather uneventful, as the three of them remained by her site to keep her company and chat it up, even though she still couldn't really respond all that well. Not that this was a bad thing for her, since she could at least listen in and get some info out of it.

Not everything was useful to her, she had no idea who those, Amitie, Raffine or Klug people were, that Sig was referring to and Ally's comments about her, Sig and Rafisol 'getting intimate' together made her question what kind of relationship those three were in. It did give her some helpful context however, she wasn't in her own world anymore, even the phoney seemingly spend more time in this 'Primp Town', only occasionally returning to their home world, thanks to a medal that she won at some tournament. All the better, sure it blew for ''Doppel'' that wouldn't be seeing her home again anytime soon, but at least the dumb rule made up by Satan, that caused her to vanish back into the void last time would longer affect her. After all this wasn't his world anymore.

So the passed by, silently listening and forming some ideas of how to proceed with her plans, with the new info she had gotten, sure it was nice to hang with others again, but her priorities were set to a greater goal, one that would allow her to keep experience these kind of interactions fulltime again.

Taking a fleeting look out of the window Sig noticed how it had already gotten dark outside, something that none of them really payed attention to all this time.''It's getting late...'' He flatly stated. ''True, but it's gonna be a long walk to the door in Purplune Tower...why don't you just bunk with me and Raffy tonight? I'm sure she wouldn't mind'' ''I wouldn't mind at all...and besides I think Arle would want you to stay as well...'' looking at 'Doppel'' for confirmation she nodded, deciding to go along with it, though given what she was going to do, it also made her feel a bit guilty, it didn't help that Sig gave her that smile again, while agreeing to stay and reassuring her that he'd be right back by her site the next day.

Still, it was for a greater goal, so she waited patiently once everyone left and the door closed, waiting for a few hours to pass by, before finally making her move. Her first steps out of the bed were clumsy and heavy feeling, she wasn't in great condition, but the healing spell would at least allow her to make a run for it.

She carefully made her way to the window, thanking the heavens for it being so close to the ground which made it easy to climb out without much fuss or noise. She could spot this Purplune Tower in the distance, there she would find the door that would lead her to Primp and if she was lucky she'd be there before the end of the night.

Despite everything ''Doppel'' still couldn't help but to feel bad for leaving the three behind like that, after all, even if they thought of a different Arles they were still the first ones to show her such kindness in a long time. But in the end, she had no other choice, she would make it all up to them once had reclaimed her proper place.

Her place as Arle Nadja...

 **To be continued**


End file.
